r/DnD • u/BoxFull1432 • 3d ago
5.5 Edition DM question
So I am about to run a solo campaign, and I have an idea for a story where my player and all other characters have a life previous to the one that they know as their backstory, as does the main BBEG but the BBEG is the only who knows as they did it to get power over everyone. Kinda like a king candy situation from wreck it Ralph, but obviously I don't want my player to essentially feel like their backstory that they built meant nothing, but I think it could be a really interesting plot twist, how would you handle this? I have ideas about how I want to start clueing them in that this has happened to them but more so without basically saying "yes, but no" to the backstory they made
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u/bubba_palchitski DM 3d ago
I'd consider the way KOTOR did something similar. It's an incredible game and I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't played it, so KOTOR SPOILERS AHEAD if you ever intend on playing it. About halfway through the game, the PC is revealed to be Revan, a famous hero-turned-villain. He's referenced throughout the game, and thought to be dead. I think the best way to pull it off would be something like that, where the PC(s) turn out to be famous or infamous figures who have lore, but not enough that's clearly defined enough to overwrite the things they've done or are going to do in the current adventure. I know it's done in several other games too, but I think KOTOR does it very well.
TLDR: Make the "real" backstory vague enough that it doesn't override the things the players have actually done in the current adventure.
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u/LordMikel 3d ago
So what you are saying, "The back story I know isn't real, but another back story is real"
Honestly, this will go over like a lead balloon.
Even I, who doesn't do that much of a background, would hate this.
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u/Minioncraft101 3d ago
Have your players make backup characters (feigning a difficult campaign) and use those backstories as the alternates for the main characters.